Effect of silicon on some growth, physiological and phytochemical properties of Cannabis sativa L. in soil and soilless culture

Cannabis sativa L. is a promising product for the production of special herbal medicines. Silicon is also a very important element in improving plant performance in a variety of environmental conditions. Soilless culture systems are one of the most important technologies in the world for adverse environmental environments. Based on a two-factor factorial in a completely randomized design with four silicon treatments with concentrations of zero, 0.75, 1.5 and 2.25 mmol and three replications in four culture media (soil and sand (soil derivatives), soil and vermicompost compost (soil derivatives), perlite (hydroponics), perlite and cocopeat (hydroponics) were applied. After vegetative growth is complete, growth, morphophysiological and phytochemical indices including root and shoot length (ruler), fresh weight of shoot and root, dry weight of shoot and root, relative leaf moisture (scales), leaf area (leaf surface), photosynthetic pigments and anthocyanins, sugar, phenol, flavonoids, antioxidant activity (spectrophotometer), some leaf and root elements (flame photometer) were measured. The results showed that the culture system had a significant effect on all measured traits (except flavonoids) and the application of silicon improved many phytochemical traits and yield components with concentrations of 1.5 and 2.25 in this plant. It is noteworthy that silicon in hydroponic systems improved the growth traits and absorption of elements, but in the culture medium of soil derivatives, increased the phytochemical traits of flavonoids and anthocyanins. The results can indicate that the use of hydroponic culture media increases the yield, while in soil media due to some limitations, especially the absorption of elements, non-enzymatic antioxidant compounds such as phenolic acid increase.